The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-02-19
AMONG MI vIENMesE.


The CAarastsrbtiss aud Medsraeea u ~
6taia Old vienna Burghsrs
The Austrian character is not slug,
gish, but it is slow. There is an active
intellect, but 1t would seem Of In
sufficient horsepower to move q body
slightly inclined to torpidity at an
appreciable rate of speed. It may bs
remarked here that the only personi
who in Austria frankly confess that
they are Austrians belong to thu
100000 or so Germans, who form
about one-fourth Of the entire popula
tion Of the empire. No Bohemian ever
says he is an Austrian. No more does
a Hungarian, while the Croats,
Moravians, Styrians, Italians and the
other fractions of race that make W
the hybrid and polyglot Austrian ma
tionality are usually equally specific
Their local terms Of distinction are pre-
ferred to those which are imperial. The
language of commerce and society 1.
necessarily the German. You hear il
generally usedin Vienna, Prague, Buda
Pesth, Grain fact, in every
corner Of the country, and even
in Trieste, though here the FREEDOM.
nance Of the italian element makes its
progress difficult. 1t is the language
of the Austrian Parliament, and of all
the employees of the railroad-in fact,
the German tongue is as aggressive ai
German commerce. The Bohemians,
the H%ungarians, the Croats try to stay
the lingual tide. but they can no more
dam the torrent than they can inter.
pose a barrier to the avalanche of Ger.
man traders that is sweeping down
upon them. Europe regards the Ger.
man invasion much as the Americans
regard Chinese immigration. They
come in everywhere. They take pos.
session Of every thing. They are able
to undersell because their goods are Of
poor material and cheaply made. Tt
say that an article of ordinary mel.
chandise is German suggests to tn,
commercial world two ~ideas-cheap
ness that defies competition and poor
ness Of quality. Another idea nigh,
possibly be added-energy, enterprise
and intelligence in offering for sale
These are the three great elements q
o certain kind of commercial success.
But the Germans who are thus over
running the world with an energy tina
is American, and a check that is NOR.
than American, are not the branch q
the race that call themselves Austrians.
They are the North Germans and came
from somewhere along tho North sea,
or not far from the Baltic, or from
Saxony, or Frankfort. No such am.
bition stirs the slumbering soul of the
Viennese or of the inhabitants of the
other commercial cities Of the country.
He does not want to emigrate. He is
too we'll satisfied with what he has.
The lust of wealth has not entered his
soul to any alarming extent. He would
be glad to be rich, but he is not going
to fume, fret, sweat throuh laborious
days and pass sleepless nights in seek.
ing to become so. The Viennese
burgher is of the South German type.
His counterpart is found in Bavaria,
but the Bavarian is less phlegmatic.
The Bavarian is more easily excited ia
anger and he has sven less commercial
talent. The solid citizen of Vienna il
usually a short, stout, black-haired in,
dividual, with a solidity Of flesh thai
might have come from English beet. But
it does not. 1t is the result of persist
emit devotion to the beers of Pilsen,
Budweiser and the metropolis Of the
Danube, to whose credit it may be said
that they are the best in the world
Here and there may be seer a blonde
type that has como in in the twilight
Of Austrian history from some wind
swept Tartar steppe or some chilly sea
shore of the far North. 1t offers q
pleasing exception Of brown hair and
blue eyes without altering the rule
The dark types predominant. Thu
Viennese moves with the constant
slowness of solid bodies. Haste is tt
him unknown. He could not be in
duced to run to a fire even If it wa.
the conflagration Of his own dwelling
He meets his friends with a sunny
smile and his enemies with bland for
bearance. II the homely an d good
natured can be applied with propriety
it is to the Viennese burgher. whose
equanimity in the presence of irritat.
ing circumstances is unvarying and
whose unpretentious politcness ia
strangers is constant and remarkable.
He is never in such a hurry that he
can not impart needed information to
those uncertain what course to take in
the devious ways Of his handsome
capital. Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.